Essential Announces $200 (29%) Discount on Phones -- Price Dropped To $499 (cnet.com)

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Essential Announces $200 (29%) Discount on Phones -- Price Dropped To $499 (cnet.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on Sunday October 22, 2017 @11:30PM from the Android-announcements dept.

An anonymous reader quote CNET: The heavily hyped, Andy Rubin-backed Essential phone launched late in August. Now, two months later, its price has been cut from $699 to $499. The news was announced in a Sunday blog post by company president Niccolo de Masi. He said the price cut comes in lieu of the company spending money on an expensive marketing campaign. "We could have created a massive TV campaign to capture your attention," Masi wrote, "but we think making it easier for people to get their hands on our first products is a better way to get to know us." A spokesperson added to this, telling CNET, "We've heard from many people that once they got their hands on an Essential Phone they were hooked by the device's unique look and feel... it was a strategic decision to invest in bold pricing to get our products into more hands instead of traditional marketing such as TV to generate awareness and word of mouth."
"There is really no other way to read the move except as a signal that it wasn't selling well at $699," counters the Verge, "especially given that the only U.S. carrier stores it's available in have 'Sprint' above the door. It certainly doesn't help that it now has to face the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL head-to-head."

"To help salve the burn that customers who paid the full price might be feeling, the company is offering a $200 Essential Store 'friends & family code' to be used towards the purchase of another phone or a module."

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Unique look and feel? by TheRaven64 · 2017-10-22 23:38 · Score: 5, Insightful

It's an Android phone, that looks and feels like an Android phone. What makes it unique? Reading their web site, I'm not seeing anything compelling. Anyone bought one and found something unique in it?

--
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
1. Re:Unique look and feel? by omnichad · 2017-10-22 23:44 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  looks and feels like an Android phone. What makes it unique?
  That's exactly what I'm looking for. A plain, ordinary Android phone. My current and last phones were both Nexus phones. At $499, I would actually consider one of these.
2. Re: Unique look and feel? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 00:03 · Score: 1
  
  Well-built plain Android phones with decent hardware can be bought for much less than $499.
3. Re:Unique look and feel? by TheRaven64 · 2017-10-23 00:06 · Score: 1
  
  I don't think that's the market that they're going for, because if that's what you want then just look at the installed base for LineageOS and pick one of the ones with a lot of users (I'm still using a first-gen Moto G) - something like one of the onePlus line is well supported by LineageOS and has decent hardware.
  
  --
  I am TheRaven on Soylent News
4. Re:Unique look and feel? by PPalmgren · 2017-10-23 00:10 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Motorola has a good hold on that market. Their android skinning is very limited and their phones have already been in that ballpark. I was interested in the essential phone, but at the price compared to my Moto Z it just wasn't worth it.
5. Re:Unique look and feel? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 00:37 · Score: 0
  
  Could this story just be an ad?
6. Re:Unique look and feel? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 00:48 · Score: 1
  
  I just bought a OnePlus 5 and at the time the price point of the essential turned me off.
  At this new price I would've considered it.
7. Re:Unique look and feel? by raburton · 2017-10-23 00:49 · Score: 0
  
  I've just switched my Nexus 4 (running Android 7.1.2 perfectly well) for a Xiaomi Mi A1. It's not as high spec as the Essential but it's pretty reasonable and only costs $220. While the Nexus hasn't really needed replacing, I've fancied something new for a while (mostly for more space and 4g) but couldn't find anything I thought was an equivalent deal to the Nexus 4 at the time of purchase - decent but not top spec, unlocked (network and bootloader), sensibly priced, no oem bloat and going to get a good user base for roms (hence still able to run latest android). The A1 finally seemed to be the a phone that fit the bill, and so far so good (ok, only on day 2 so far!). Future rom support is of course yet to be seen, but as an android one phone with a promised update to android 8 by the end of the year (which should include Treble) I think the prospects are pretty good.
8. Re: Unique look and feel? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 01:01 · Score: 0
  
  That's what I wanted to know, did it have a headphone jack. At 500 bucks it's on the high end of what I'm willing to pay for a phone, but with no headphone jack, they don't get any of my money.
  It is targeted at a demographic which I'm not a member of.
9. Re:Unique look and feel? by NicknameUnavailable · 2017-10-23 01:11 · Score: 1
  
  Could this story just be an ad?
  On /.? Never!
10. Re:Unique look and feel? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 01:16 · Score: 0
  
  How much does an ad cost? $10k?
11. Re: Unique look and feel? by Teun · 2017-10-23 01:52 · Score: 1
  
  The USB-C to headphone adapter is included in the price and shipment.
  
  --
  "The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
12. Re: Unique look and feel? by gfxguy · 2017-10-23 01:56 · Score: 1
  
  YMMV, but I bought three LG V10s Black-Friday 2015. Two of the three failed with black-screens and needed to be replace - neither of them abused at all, they were in excellent physical condition with no cracks or anything on the screen or case. In doing research about it, it seems like it's a problem endemic to LG phones, not just the V10. I won't be buying LG phones for a long time, if at all.
  
  --
  Stupid sexy Flanders.
13. Re:Unique look and feel? by colonslash · 2017-10-23 02:00 · Score: 1
  
  Here's a video review of the phone:
  https://www.theverge.com/2017/...
  The attachable wireless modules are unique, and it has a 360 degree camera option. It has a 5.7" screen and a smaller body than 5.5" screen Androids and iPhones. No bloatware isn't unique, but it's better than most Android phones. Interesting and functional materials.
  Their home page highlights these differences:
  https://www.essential.com/
  More than the current features is the promise of seamless integration with other devices.
  https://www.wired.com/story/in...
  I'm not buying this iteration of this phone, but I hope enough people do to keep this company alive - it looks like it has a lot of promise.
14. Re: Unique look and feel? by slaker · 2017-10-23 02:01 · Score: 1
  
  I just made that call myself and went with the V20. I don't like the larger screen but the V20 is definitely supported by LineageOS. The G-series is less friendly for boot loader unlocks and the like for some reason.
  
  --
  -- I wanna decide who lives and who dies - Crow T. Robot, MST3K
15. Re:Unique look and feel? by DrXym · 2017-10-23 02:05 · Score: 1
  
  I think the phone display is pretty neat looking. That would be the selling point for me assuming I hadn't bought a phone just recently.
16. Re: Unique look and feel? by slazzy · 2017-10-23 02:11 · Score: 1
  
  What would you recommend? Currently i buy used top end phones from ebay, but I'd rather get new.
  
  --
  Website Just Down For Me? Find out
17. Re:Unique look and feel? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 02:15 · Score: 0
  
  The only thing semi-new is their magnetic adapter spots on the back of the phone.
  Right now they only have one adapter, a 360 degree camera attachment.
  Honestly, there is nothing compelling. If you want something new and exciting, check out the Librem 5. This is a fully hackable phone.
18. Re:Unique look and feel? by samwichse · 2017-10-23 02:22 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I would consider one if it had a headphone jack.
  I might buy one if it had stereo speakers. My current phone has both of these and I find them such useful features I'll never buy a phone again without them.
  As it is, as soon as I saw the lack of the jack, I just said "nope" and moved on.
  Way to have "courage," Essenial. Courage to remove features before you've even established yourself.
19. Re: Unique look and feel? by Rob+Y. · 2017-10-23 02:27 · Score: 2
  
  Maybe, but if this thing gets decent software support - and is unlockable so that it can run LineageOS - it's a pretty good deal at that price. Better hardware than the One Plus 5. I got a ZTE Axon 7 last year when the midrange 'flagships' were coming on strong. Hardware is great for the price, but ZTE has backtracked on their promise of openness, to the point that I don't know if my 11 month old phone is going to get any more security patches - let alone OS upgrades. It might (and I'm still hopeful), but next time, it's going to be unlocked out of the gate or nothing.
  Essential tried to go for flagship pricing out of the gate - and at that level, anything less than perfection is death. Their camera software was supposedly lousy, and a few initial bad reviews were enough to prevent them from recovering once they fixed it. But at $499, they're probably the best device in that near flagship category. It'd be nice if they were to settle for that and keep producing great bargain hardware, but I suspect that if they can't get the hype machine going again, they'll fade away. Who knows...
  
  --
  Posted from my Android phone. Oh, I can change this? There, that's better...
20. Re:Unique look and feel? by omnichad · 2017-10-23 02:27 · Score: 1
  
  That's definitely not the market they're going for, but it's exactly the one they'll get. Reducing price to generate buzz on a flagship device just makes it a very popular mid-range phone.
21. Re:Unique look and feel? by omnichad · 2017-10-23 02:31 · Score: 1
  
  I have computers and speakers everywhere. I also still have an iPod. If removing jacks I don't need will save money or improve durability, that's fine for a lot of people. It takes no courage for me to say that my phone is a portable communications device and not a multimedia center. The only time I use it for audio is via USB for Android Auto. And I'd probably use a separate device were it not for being able to answer calls and reply to texts by voice.
22. Re: Unique look and feel? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 03:12 · Score: 0
  
  I dunno, I've used LG G4's and g5's for the last few years, and I never had an issue that I didn't cause myself (I've very hard on my tools) The current one that I have a G5 has issues with the power button, and I can only access it via the fingerprint scanner. ie actually pushing on the button doesnt do jack. I belive that this is a well known issue and may have been addressed in the newer models. I would buy an LG over an iPhone or a Samsung anyday.
23. Re: Unique look and feel? by Type44Q · 2017-10-23 03:14 · Score: 1
  
  Xiaomi Redmi Note 4, fucking pathetica English marketing attempt notwithstanding.
24. Re: Unique look and feel? by Type44Q · 2017-10-23 03:18 · Score: 1
  
  Pathetic. Don't know where that "a" came from...
25. Re:Unique look and feel? by postbigbang · 2017-10-23 04:01 · Score: 1
  
  And so it's a non-Essential phone.
  It's my belief that for now, Xiaomi, even LG and (used) Samsungs are a great value, and aren't captive to a single carrier, and no one worries about them going out of business after a firesale of their phones.
  The battle of The Phones is now officially over, just like you can't cram even more stuff into a laptop without adding two zeros to the left of the decimal price point. But organizations will convince investors that they have some new secret sauce that is going to propel them to perhaps, a point of Samsung's, LG's, Moto's, or someone else's share.
  Perhaps they'll learn. Perhaps not.
  
  --
  ---- Teach Peace. It's Cheaper Than War.
26. Re: Unique look and feel? by Bartles · 2017-10-23 04:51 · Score: 1
  
  Check out the Moto g5 plus. $299 with 64 geebees.
27. Re:Unique look and feel? by SScorpio · 2017-10-23 04:55 · Score: 1
  
  I'm seeing that at $625 from Verizon when linked from Motorola's site.
  You can buy an Android One version of the Moto X4 from Google's Project Fi for $399 and it's stock Android, no skinning. And will have the support of the Nexus/Pixels in terms of patches for two years.
28. Re:Unique look and feel? by thegarbz · 2017-10-23 05:40 · Score: 2
  
  Anyone bought one and found something unique in it?
  It ships with a black blemish at the top of the screen making it look defective out of the box.
29. Re: Unique look and feel? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 05:42 · Score: 0
  
  +1 on Moto. Was a long time samsung user, and considered s8, essential, but, price. I'd love to hear what I'm missing out on with the essential that my Moto 5 for $180 from Amazon doesn't have. Truly, would like to hear.
  , I still have no idea who the f Andy Rubin is. Some ex-apple dude who conflated him working for Steve Jobs with a jobs-esque ability to create a world beater phone?
30. Re: Unique look and feel? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 05:44 · Score: 0
  
  Um, slashdot is where products come to be ridiculed ... Not advertised
31. Re: Unique look and feel? by Curunir_wolf · 2017-10-23 06:13 · Score: 1
  
  Check out the Moto g5 plus. $299 with 64 geebees.
  Do you mean giggas?
  
  --
  "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
  --- Jerry Garcia
32. Re:Unique look and feel? by s_p_oneil · 2017-10-23 07:00 · Score: 1
  
  I agree. Although the one "unique" feature I would like to see the most in an Android phone is a USB port that will last as long as the rest of the phone does. My latest Android is a Nexus 5x. It's barely 1 year old, the phone still works great, but the USB cable won't stay plugged in if someone breathes on it. Every Android phone I've ever had has eventually had the same problem, so I try to be really careful when plugging/unplugging it, but it didn't help. I had also hoped that either the Google-branded phone or the change to USB-C would help with that problem, but no such luck.
  I may try a magnetic cable, but I'm worried it will end up falling into one of these categories: https://xkcd.com/1892/
33. Re: Unique look and feel? by JohnFen · 2017-10-23 08:15 · Score: 1
  
  Agreed. No headphone jack == nonstarter.
34. Re: Unique look and feel? by JohnFen · 2017-10-23 08:16 · Score: 1
  
  A dongle is not a sufficient replacement, for a whole bunch of reasons.
35. Re:Unique look and feel? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 10:06 · Score: 0
  
  Take your 3.5mm floppy disk jack to show your pinochle buddies at the old folks' home. Nobody else appreciates that old claptrap anymore.
36. Re: Unique look and feel? by Brockmire · 2017-10-23 10:15 · Score: 1
  
  Sounds like the problem is you. Also, I've had good experience with magnetic USB for headphones I plug in multiple times a day. The small obtrusion from the receptacle is fine for headphones, not sure about a phone where your hand may cover it and not feel great. If plug is at bottom, probably not an issue.
37. Re: Unique look and feel? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 10:31 · Score: 0
  
  Be on the Look-out for devices with Android One. They have nothing added by the manufacturer or carrier and have a longer update-support (at least 2 years)
38. Re: Unique look and feel? by Bartles · 2017-10-23 12:04 · Score: 1
  
  No, geebees. Using the term giggas can you you branded as a spacist, whihc leads to public shaming and career destruction.
39. Re: Unique look and feel? by AvitarX · 2017-10-23 12:24 · Score: 1
  
  That's the way I went (well I have a plane old G5), but the essential is definitely a better phone.
  At $499 it's a good price, at $699 it was too much. At the price of a current high end phone I want a portrait camera at the very least.
  The near zero bezel on the essential is a nice feature, and I assume the CPU etc are a generation ahead of the G5+ (I don't really know what is equivalent to what).
  
  --
  Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
40. Re:Unique look and feel? by piojo · 2017-10-23 19:45 · Score: 1
  
  I've had LG and Samsung, to my lasting regret. OnePlus has good value for money, and the best user interface (both hardware and software) I've seen on a phone. I haven't tried Xiaomi or Meizu--I don't remember what made me choose OnePlus over Xiaomi and Meizu, but there's not really anything I don't like about this phone, and I'm picky as hell.
  (LG: manufacture phones that fry themselves after a few months due to a motherboard defect, then refuse to repair them for the cost of parts.)
  
  --
  A cat can't teach a dog to bark.
41. Re:Unique look and feel? by TheRaven64 · 2017-10-23 20:33 · Score: 1
  
  I have a Moto G, first generation, which I bought a few months after it was launched. The USB port is still working fine, and it's plugged in overnight for charging every day. Maybe you're inserting the cable too hard? Micro USB was designed to be more resilient than the older mini USB, and seems pretty solid to me.
  
  --
  I am TheRaven on Soylent News
42. Re:Unique look and feel? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 21:28 · Score: 0
  
  I agree... the essential phone is just a overpriced and bad clone of an iphone with android crammed in instead of iOS
  I can honestly not see how or why essential would think that their phone is in any way, shape or form, different from google's pixels or other -bad clones or even something that people would WANT to buy... ...the followers of the Apple Jack-off cult keeps claiming that the jack is not needed... but they fail to understand
  how pricy, inconvinient, bad and ineffective BT headphone options are ...then the bring up the floppy.. what does that even have to do with jacks? nothing! the floppy got replaced by something better... USB sticks.... the jack has not yet had a worthy successor... BT is NOT a worthy successor
  Google - once a leader in tech... now a SAD shadow of Apple with twice the menace and twice the evil
  Essential - a startup that is a WANNABE SAD shadow of Apple with twice the stupid and twice the fail
43. Re: Unique look and feel? by Shirley+Marquez · 2017-10-24 04:35 · Score: 1
  
  True. But the Essential phone has flagship-level hardware - Snapdragon 835, 4GB RAM, 128GB flash, above-1080p display with small bezels. At $699 it was ho-hum because it was around the same price as other phones with similar specs, and those other phones come from companies with a longer track record. At $499 the Essential is a good value if you want that class of hardware, and it should get a lot more attention from potential buyers.
44. Re: Unique look and feel? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-24 15:48 · Score: 0
  
  You have a plane? niceeeeee
45. Re: Unique look and feel? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-24 15:49 · Score: 0
  
  xiaomi mi 6 is awesome. check it out.
What a surprise! by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 00:08 · Score: 0

Another overprivileged valley insider produces a turd.
1. Re:What a surprise! by Desler · 2017-10-23 00:23 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  It’s now the EssentiallyDead phone.
2. Re:What a surprise! by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 05:11 · Score: 0
  
  it's only at EssentiallyOnLifeSupport phone right now. when they drop the price in a couple more months to $199 and quit answering the phone.. then it's EssentiallyDead.
sprint only?? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 00:14 · Score: 0

the article summary says sprint stores only, but the website says "Unlocked phone. Compatible with all carriers. No traps", seems like the article is slightly misleading, it should at least say you can but it from them and it's not sprint only.
1. Re:sprint only?? by raburton · 2017-10-23 00:35 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  It doesn't say only sprint stores, it says the only carrier stores are sprint stores, i.e. other networks aren't selling the phone themselves. At least here in the UK a significant proportion of people still get their phones direct from the networks instead of buying them outright.
2. Re: sprint only?? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 01:41 · Score: 0
  
  Who still buys a phone from a mobile network operator these days? It's rarely a good deal.
3. Re: sprint only?? by Desler · 2017-10-23 03:24 · Score: 1
  
  The vast majority of people do.
4. Re:sprint only?? by houghi · 2017-10-23 03:31 · Score: 1
  
  In Belgium locked phones are forbidden. Many people will buy phones with a provider, but the phone can not be locked and so many providers will just sell the phone.
  Yet many will just buy them somewhere else and just change the chip.
  It is also easy to switch providers and keep your number. This will be done in the same day and takes just a few hours. New SIM, Get an SMS. Change the SIM. I have not changed my number in 10 years and I have had 5 providers. Once a year I look if others are cheaper for me.
  At this moment there is no roaming cost anymore in Europe, so now I am waiting that the international calling prices in Europe are gone and I will look for a country where the calls are cheaper. I would love to have e.g. a Polish or Spanish number if it is cheaper for me as well as not more expensive for people to contact me.
  
  --
  Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
5. Re: sprint only?? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 03:33 · Score: 0
  
  Really? Why? At least in my country, they don't seem to have a single deal that is more interesting than buying the phone elsewhere.
6. Re:sprint only?? by raburton · 2017-10-23 04:00 · Score: 1
  
  For the most part all of that is true in the UK too. Phones are often locked, but the networks will generally unlock them for free, at least once you are out of contract. What I assume is different here vs Belgium is that when people get the phone from the network they aren't paying up front for it, they get it "free" (or almost) on an expensive monthly contract (essentially a hire-purchase agreement, not sure if that term is familiar in Belgium). So there is little point having your phone unlocked at time of purchase, or before the end of your contract, because you're tied in to the network for typically 2 years anyway.
  Your roaming idea is interesting, but I suspect it will fall down on costs to call you. Certainly from here calling a foreign mobile is very expensive and the EU roaming situation doesn't cover that. I suspect that's not something that will ever be regulated. Also, foreign customer service related issues could be a problem. On the plus side, as a roamer in your own country, you'd have access to all the networks there instead of only being able to connect to your own, potentially giving your much better coverage.
7. Re:sprint only?? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 04:30 · Score: 0
  In Canada, if I browse the Essential website, it tells me that I can only get the phone from Telus. This brings a couple of interesting questions:
  Price on Essential says $699 (pre-sale price). CAD? USD? Very confusing, considering that Telus is a Canadian carrier. Let's give them the benefit of the doubt and assume it is USD: Telus says I can buy the phone without a contract at CAD$1050 (pre-sale price, not updated yet as of today). USD$699 ~= CAD$883, so there is already a $167 premium on it. Shipping? Duty? Can't be taxes, because I get dinged another $130+ in taxes when I hit the checkout.
  If Telus is the only carrier I can buy the phone, is it unlocked already? Based on past experiences, prepaid phones are purchased outright, but still locked to the carrier. Luckily, I only have to wait until December to have free unlocking, but I can't help but wonder if that $167 premium already included the unlocking fee...
8. Re:sprint only?? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 08:42 · Score: 0
  
  The Canadian telecom governing body (FRTC?) seems to be listening to the users, but sometimes failed to make it work better. A few years ago, people complained about the long contracts, so FRTC mandated a maximum of 2-year terms. Now, the monthly costs goes up significantly (used to be $17/mo, now it is at least $30). People complained about not being able to unlock, so FRTC mandated phones to be unlocked upon request after 3 months, but failed to mandate the price (can be easily $100). People complain about the cost of unlock, so now this coming December, FRTC mandated free unlocks. Guess what? The carriers wrap the unlock cost into the phone.
  What I am getting at is that you should look at the entire cost of the phone over the contract period and compare the before and after government mandates. I would not be surprised if the carriers in your corner of the world are just quietly bundling the costs into the phone and call these things "free".
I'll pay full price if... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 00:31 · Score: 0

I'll pray full price if I can get a headphone jack. Still can't?
You'll have to make it $100
1. Re:I'll pay full price if... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 00:41 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  No god can help you when you are facing stupidity such as removing the headphone jack.
That wasn't too hard was it? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 00:31 · Score: 0

There we go.
Overpriced, over hyped NOBODY by p51d007 · 2017-10-23 00:53 · Score: 2

Outside the "tech" blogsphere, no one knows who this guy or his company is. Price it at 350-400 dollars, they MIGHT sell a few more.
1. Re:Overpriced, over hyped NOBODY by NicknameUnavailable · 2017-10-23 01:16 · Score: 0
  
  He founded Android - that's pretty big in terms of phones. Honestly he deserves to make some money on the hardware side - but he might be better off (especially with a brand name like "essential") by trying to cut out the spyware, maybe include some exposed DIP switches to kill the camera, microphone, GPS, bluetooth transceiver, etc and really target the paranoid nerd crowd (we certainly wouldn't touch Apple so he's already halfway there by having founded Android.)
2. Re:Overpriced, over hyped NOBODY by fred6666 · 2017-10-23 01:29 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Why would you trust the hardware switch anymore than the software switch? In both cases you have to trust the vendor.
3. Re:Overpriced, over hyped NOBODY by Baron_Yam · 2017-10-23 01:32 · Score: 0
  
  >maybe include some exposed DIP switches to kill the camera, microphone, GPS, bluetooth transceiver, etc
  Broken traces inline with each device on the board, with a nice snap-in hardware switch over them to connect as desired. Mechanical switches die, so you want them easily replaceable.
  I want to know when I flip the switch that I've killed power to the target device, not that I've sent a signal to the OS to disable it.
  And while you're at it - make the flash have a 3-way switch so I can force it on when I want a flashlight without having to unlock my phone.
4. Re:Overpriced, over hyped NOBODY by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 01:39 · Score: 1
  
  Because the people who worry enough about these things to make it a purchasing priority don't know any better.
5. Re:Overpriced, over hyped NOBODY by NicknameUnavailable · 2017-10-23 01:49 · Score: 0
  
  Because a hardware switch is easily verified by dissecting the phone, a software switch is unverifiable because even if you have the source code it goes through a CPU you have no way to do more than read the write-ups by the one or two people who decide to dissolve the casing and stick it under an electron microscope a decade or more down the road. You can very easily see when traces go from a dip switch to the camera or microphone, the CPU is a black box.
6. Re:Overpriced, over hyped NOBODY by NicknameUnavailable · 2017-10-23 01:52 · Score: 1
  
  While they're at it they could bring back buttons too (even if coorded as a 0-9 phone) so I can text while driving safely - the vibrating tactile feedback nonsense is worthless for texting without looking at the phone and voice recognition is never trustworthy.
7. Re:Overpriced, over hyped NOBODY by swillden · 2017-10-23 02:43 · Score: 1
  
  Why would you trust the hardware switch anymore than the software switch? In both cases you have to trust the vendor.
  Three reasons:
  1. A hardware switch's presence and function is easier to verify. A few teardowns of randomly-selected units can verify it to an arbitrarily high degree of confidence. Even better if the device is built so that you can verify the wiring even without destructive teardown, so every sufficiently-paranoid user can check their own device, personally.
  2. Even if you verify the presence and functionality of a software switch by carefully analyzing the software, an update can be delivered at any time that disables the switch -- or even reverses it! If I wanted to monitor you, I would be most interested in what you do while the switch is in the off position.
  3. Even if the vendor is fully trustworthy and never disables the software switch, malware can still disable it. An attacker who compromises the system can turn it on. To do the same with a hardware switch, the attacker would have to physically steal your phone, modify the internal wiring and return it to you.
  There is a lot of value to hardware switches. Note that I don't care that much myself. A software switch from a vendor I trust is good enough for me. But I can understand those who might want more.
  
  --
  Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
8. Re:Overpriced, over hyped NOBODY by drinkypoo · 2017-10-23 03:28 · Score: 1
  
  A hardware switch's presence and function is easier to verify.
  You have to trust that the vendor doesn't have some way to bypass it, though. That requires a more advanced teardown, and someone has to pay for that, or do the work themselves.
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
9. Re:Overpriced, over hyped NOBODY by swillden · 2017-10-23 03:44 · Score: 1
  
  A hardware switch's presence and function is easier to verify.
  You have to trust that the vendor doesn't have some way to bypass it, though. That requires a more advanced teardown, and someone has to pay for that, or do the work themselves.
  It can be designed so that it's easy to verify, as I pointed out in the post you replied to. It helps if the component has a discrete power line.
  
  --
  Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
10. Re:Overpriced, over hyped NOBODY by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 04:42 · Score: 0
  
  Yes, because it's so easy to see the traces on a multi-layer board.
  Oh wait, it's not.
11. Re:Overpriced, over hyped NOBODY by thegarbz · 2017-10-23 05:44 · Score: 1
  
  1. No it's not. We're not in the realm of actually verifying that the devices are powered down / disconnected on a modern circuit board. You'll still relying on software to tell you that it's been disabled.
  2. The same update problem still applies to the hardware switch because of 1.
  3. The same malware problem still applies because of 1.
  
  There is a lot of value to hardware switches.
  Not on a device which makes it impossible to verify the function and actual operation of a switch. That means exposed solder legs and exposed terminals on the target device of the switch. Neither of these are really 100% possible in a modern phone, although someone taking the phone and carefully x-raying every layer on the circuit board could do that.
12. Re:Overpriced, over hyped NOBODY by swillden · 2017-10-23 07:04 · Score: 1
  
  1. No it's not. We're not in the realm of actually verifying that the devices are powered down / disconnected on a modern circuit board. You'll still relying on software to tell you that it's been disabled.
  Most of the interesting peripherals in a cellphone are connected via very small ribbon cables, not surface mount. It's easy to wire the hardware switch so it interrupts the power line in one of the cable terminations. Also, given sufficient control over the software on the device, it's also possible to do a verification in software that the hardware switch really works and does what it's supposed to do, and that verification would remain valid even when running the much more complex and difficult to verify production software.
  
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  Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
13. Re:Overpriced, over hyped NOBODY by thegarbz · 2017-10-23 09:22 · Score: 1
  
  Most of the interesting peripherals in a cellphone are connected via very small ribbon cables
  Which have all the same problems as multi-layered PCBs. The only people who can really verify what a switch is doing are experts with some incredibly decent tools.
14. Re:Overpriced, over hyped NOBODY by NicknameUnavailable · 2017-10-23 18:48 · Score: 1
  
  It's not remotely impossible - that's in the realm of a hardware hacker, of which there are thousands who do that and blog about it just for sport. On the other hand dissecting a chip is something maybe 2-3 hobbyists do, and the analysis takes so long it doesn't get posted for about a decade after the release if they even feel like checking it out.
15. Re:Overpriced, over hyped NOBODY by NicknameUnavailable · 2017-10-23 18:52 · Score: 1
  
  Your first point is absurd and therefore so are the others. A hardware switch is a hardware switch - it's not something which ties into the CPU to say "shut this thing off," it's a physical switch which disables a component - just like a light switch. You are probably confusing this concept with the switch for the power of camera or volume on your phone, which are not hardware switches, they are just pushbuttons which signal the CPU to do something. A hardware switch physically cuts or connects a wire, it is exceedingly easy to verify by smashing it with a hammer then saying "yep, this was a switch" or "what's this weird shit which has nothing to do with a switch in here" - then replacing the switch with a 10-cent replacement from Digikey.
Comment removed by account_deleted · 2017-10-23 00:54 · Score: 4, Informative

Comment removed based on user account deletion
Selling world-wide (ROW) would also help by ReneR · 2017-10-23 01:10 · Score: 2

I like the clean look, however, can't even get it here in Europe. Even if I'd wanted, ignoring the missing headphone jack and sub-par camera for that hefty original price. For 499 I might further look over those sub-optimal points, but still can't get it anywhere here, anyways.
Your lack of courage... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 01:16 · Score: 0

...is disturbing.
Spend the money by dbialac · 2017-10-23 01:55 · Score: 1

I'd spend the money on the marketing campaign. Nobody I know outside of tech knows what it is.
1. Re:Spend the money by Fly+Swatter · 2017-10-23 02:43 · Score: 1
  
  Start by using a name that doesn't sound like it only offers low cost with just the basics.
Unsold inventory? by The+Cynical+Critic · 2017-10-23 02:10 · Score: 1

Is it just me or does a price cut that big this close to launch sound an awful lot like they made a lot more devices than they could sell and are now trying to clear out inventory? Nice for those looking to buy a high end android device cheap, but can't be all that great for their bottom line.

Price cuts like this are pretty much always the result of companies overstating demand at the initial price and often include a warehouse full of unsold inventory. They either plan on making back the money on connected revenue streams (like games and peripherals for consoles) or then just want to clear inventory to stay liquid. Regardless of their reasons for selling stuff at a loss, the value of this inventory would eventually have to at least partly be written off as you can never keep products in inventory for a long time and expect to sell it at the original price.

--
"Why should I want to make anything up? Life's bad enough as it is without wanting to invent any more of it."
Flagship for $500? If only I could buy one! by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 02:12 · Score: 0

The essential reminds me of the Nexus days, where a flagship class phone could be had for a reasonable price.
Sadly, Telus seems to have bought exclusivity in Canada, so the damned thing is $1050 CAD. That's an anti-sale; actively discouraging outright sales. The carriers are so hell bent on selling contacts that it will destroy Canadian sales of this phone. Truly unfortunate.
1. Re:Flagship for $500? If only I could buy one! by raburton · 2017-10-23 03:04 · Score: 1
  
  The essential reminds me of the Nexus days, where a flagship class phone could be had for a reasonable price.
  The Nexus 4 launched at $300 for the base model and after 8 months went down to $200. That's a big difference, although I think the Essential is more "flagship" (in the sense of higher spec, not so much in the big name sense compared to Google/LG) than the Nexus 4 was at the time.
2. Re:Flagship for $500? If only I could buy one! by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 04:46 · Score: 0
  Here is more anti-sale data for you: When the Essential was launched, I compared it against the S8, which has essentially the same specs, Telus advertised:
  No Contract: $1050 S8 vs $1050 Essential
  2-yr @ $95/month: $0 S8 vs $200 Essential
  The only hype Telus has ever done was promoting it at local malls via data-collection surveys in exchange for a chance at winning the Essential.
3. Re:Flagship for $500? If only I could buy one! by raburton · 2017-10-24 00:54 · Score: 1
  
  $95 a month!?!?! What on earth are you getting for that? Even after you take $700 off for the phone you're giving your network over $1500 for 2 years of cell phone use. For comparison in the UK I've paid £0.99/month for the last 2 years, on a contract only deal (and after cashback).
5% Launch by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 02:34 · Score: 0

When you ignore the 95% of the market outside North America, you get poor sales. Completely self inflicted.
Utterly un-repairable by sremick · 2017-10-23 02:37 · Score: 4, Informative

A junk phone that is pretty much completely unrepairable? iFixit score of 1: https://www.ifixit.com/Teardow...
Locked bootloader, no headphone jack, no MicroSD slot, zero repairability... the Essential Phone is lacking a ton of "essential" things.
Lower the price all you want, I'm not buying this piece of shit.
j/k by cloud.pt · 2017-10-23 02:37 · Score: 3, Insightful

Many around here would still prefer to pay full price if it brought them a headphone jack, replaceable battery, uSD support, IP67 or above, dual SIM and OLED tech, and maybe 2-4 extra GB of RAM. Hell, I bet they would even pay iPhone X 256GB numbers.
Now seriously, with all of the above, that would make this a perfect phone.Not just essential.
1. Re:j/k by CrashNBrn · 2017-10-23 11:40 · Score: 1
  
  Except that kind of phone only costs $200 to $400. See Xiaomi, Motorola, and Nokia, among others. The replaceable battery is a little more rare as glue tends to be involved, or you need to remove the frame to get at the battery connector.
2. Re:j/k by cloud.pt · 2017-10-23 23:32 · Score: 1
  
  I love Xiaomi. Yet none of their cheap phones have bezel-less displays, and their Mix phones always have shortcomings. No uSD and jack come to mind, or waterproofing. OLED neither. They still don't have an available 8GB RAM device other than the non-existing Mix 2 Special Edition.
  And all of their phones, with the mild exception of the Mi A1, have a horrible Android experience called MIUI and make it very VERY hard to unlock the bootloader, with antics involving VPNs to China, PC Connection shenanigans, asking pretty please in their site, meddling with variable phone settings, sometimes all of the above, sometimes even impossible to do (non-global versions).
  Motorola and Nokia are out of the radar. They don't even compare to the specs or price ranges we are looking at in this discussion.
two words by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 03:07 · Score: 0

Fire Phone
Overpriced device moved on hype alone by XSportSeeker · 2017-10-23 03:16 · Score: 4, Informative

Well, of course this happened.
Let's see here. It's an Android phone that has ALMOST vanilla Android... but it still has to go through Essencial for updates, so it's vanilla Android with one of the biggest problems of non-vanilla Android.
The phone suffered delays, left early adopters angry, and had major camera issues on release.
The flashy stuff about it is either useless, surface level only or cosmetic, or just following trends.
Ceramics body makes the device more brittle and heavy (poor combination) without offering any protection advantage other than being a bit more scratch proof. Same for titanium. Essencially, you are much more prone to damage this camera than most others in the market.
The Moto Mod style port only has a 360 camera to show, which is something most people don't care about.
Doesn't have a headphone jack or an SD card reader, make it less than "essencial".
And of course, the company didn't pay attention to one of the most essencial parts of a phone: the camera.
I just hope that at least it gets nice reception and has a good fast Wi-fi chip in it. Otherwise, there doesn't really seem to be anything essencial about it.
The death knell was the price. And I'm honestly not sure if lowering at this point in time will do it any favors. Some people will reconsider, but the hype is over, and generous people already said that "well, perhaps the next model". Not so generous people will be skipping the brand altogether.
Too little, too late.
1. Re:Overpriced device moved on hype alone by rpstrong · 2017-10-24 08:45 · Score: 1
  
  Ceramics body makes the device more brittle and heavy (poor combination) without offering any protection advantage other than being a bit more scratch proof. Same for titanium. Essencially, you are much more prone to damage this camera than most others in the market.
  Where are you getting your materials info from? The body isn't ceramic, it is titanium. The back is ceramic. Not that I think that either ceramics or glass is a good choice (I had to replace my fire sale Fire phone after shattering the glass back), but metal often isn't an option - think wireless charging, for example. But not everyone accepts plastic (as used on my Nexus S and now on my Nexus 5X), and so you're down to breakables.
  Do you have a source indicating that ceramic back is heavier, or weaker, than glass?
  [By the way, this is a trick question. Glass *is* a ceramic.]
  But then we get to titanium, which is not only stronger (by weight) than aluminum, but is more durable, not less. You can see comparison shots of the titanium vs. aluminum in their corner drop tests look about half way down on their home page: https://www.essential.com/
So they're going to pay me $200.... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 04:00 · Score: 0

To use a phone without a headphone jack?
Nah.
Cut the price another $200 and I _may_ consider it; until then sticking with OnePlus.
An idea by Artem+S.+Tashkinov · 2017-10-23 05:24 · Score: 3, Interesting

There's definitely a market for a Nexus replacement (stock Android, fast updates, medium price ~$400-500 and close to top specs) and I'm curious why companies shun this idea.
The closest we get now is OnePlus but it's not without its quirks.
1. Re:An idea by CrashNBrn · 2017-10-23 11:48 · Score: 1
  
  The Moto X ($399) is filling the Nexus void. Also available on Project Fi with a potential trade-in.
2. Re:An idea by Hydrian · 2017-10-24 01:17 · Score: 1
  
  There's definitely a market for a Nexus replacement (stock Android, fast updates, medium price ~$400-500 and close to top specs) and I'm curious why companies shun this idea.
  Why manufactures don't want to do this? Because there's little profit margin...
  * The bill of materials (BOM) is a larger portion of the overall cost of the product.
  * Moderately priced phone with almost all of the features that the consumer wants would undercut their flag ship devices that have bigger margins.
  * Stock Android doesn't let them make something that's uniquely theirs so you come back to them. It doesn't build brand.
  * More (fast) updates mean greater development / QA cost with no real benefit to the company. If you add more features, there's less reason to buy new hardware that could possibly be theirs.
  
  --
  No good deed goes unpunished.
3. Re:An idea by rpstrong · 2017-10-24 08:48 · Score: 1
  
  Currently $115 for my 5X that I bought on sale for $250. I'll stick to the 5X, which got its 'official' Oreo update yesterday (I've been running the stable beta version.)
Supply chains by spinitch · 2017-10-23 05:27 · Score: 1

Essential may have over committed on build or their suppliers offering discounts since over estimated demand and have excess capacity or a mix. Regardless A media marketing blitz spending would have poor returns, price typically a safer bet. Lame spin doctoring but what else can they say? Good luck even at $499 the nice features are not so compelling to make up for its short comings ( poor camera:( Expensive lesson for a new device company. Prioritize features and pricing tier. They did some good things so might be able to recover on another model.
The problem isn't the price by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 08:37 · Score: 0

The problem isn't the price. Ask your parents, or your kids, or your non-tech savvy friends, if they've ever heard of a new phone called the Essential. None of them have.
Just like by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 09:27 · Score: 0

"hooked by the device's unique look and feel"
Sounds like Mr. Wipples squeezing the Charmin.
Fair enough by guacamole · 2017-10-27 00:41 · Score: 1

I think 500 bucks is a fair enough price of an Android smartphone brand with no history and premium hardware feature. At this price, the smartphone lies almost in the same niche where Google's Nexus phones and the Oneplus phones used to be. Having said that, personally I am not buying once of these because there is no headphone jack. Sorry folks, whoever you are, buy you will never convince me that not having a headphone jack is actually some kind of progress or good for consumers.